Trailside Guide: Hiking and Backpacking, New Edition (Paperback)

by Karen Berger (Author) "Why walk?" a woman asked..." (more)
Key Phrases: medicine tape, camp shoes, fuel bottle, Appalachian Trail, United States, New England (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Smart, instructive, and beautifully designed, every book in the Trailside Guide series contains the essential information readers need to master outdoor activities and have fun in the process.

Norton proudly reissues these best-selling guides with fully revised "Sources & Resources" sections (including where to find the Web sites, gear, services, books, clubs, and organizations that make for foolproof outings); updates to reflect the latest in gear technology, wilderness medicine, and first aid; and advances in techniques.

You can take it with you: Trailside Guides are designed to be used on the trail. Their handy size makes them easy to take along on outdoor adventures.
Picture this: Trailside Guides show you how it's done. Each book has more than 100 color photographs and dozens of informative, full-color technical illustrations you'll refer to again and again.
Buying Guide: Each Guide has all the information readers need to make informed decisions about what gear is available, and what they should buy.
Step-by-step: Tutorials take readers through every aspect of a given outdoor activity. Each Guide covers planning and preparing for a trip, getting in shape, technique, safety, and first-aid tips, and how to have more fun along the way!
Easy to use: Trailside Guides provide information quickly. Every book contains detailed illustrations, information-packed sidebars, and a complete index and bibliography.
Technique tips: Any physical activity is more fun when it's done right. Trailside Guides are written by experts and contain lucid explanations that help the reader quickly achieve proficiency.

It's a big world out there. Get into it with the Trailside Guides. Color photographs and drawings throughout.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; 1st edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393313344
• ISBN-13: 978-0393313345
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,855 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #43 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Hiking & Camping > Camping
  #59 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Hiking & Camping > Walking

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and fun to read ..., November 11, 2003

By	Oyvind - See all my reviews

I bought this book recently to expand on what I know about hiking and backpacking. I mainly do day hikes, and living in the desert of the southwest, I obviously end up doing a lot of desert hikes.

This book is very comprehensive, but by no means an all-inclusive description of what you need to know about hiking and backpacking.

It puts great emphasize on backpacking and not so much on hiking, although both activities are very similar in their nature. The book puts its main focus on backpacking in the Northeast of the USA, and talks a lot about the Appalachian Trail, which the author has hiked from one end to another.

The book contains all types of useful and important details about equipment, behavior on the trail, personal safety etc. Personally, I would've liked for it to mention more about travelling by foot in the desert, but that said, you can still find the most important information about desert hiking scattered around the book.

Pros:
* Very comprehensive - Contains information about most things you need to know about hiking and backpacking
* Easy and fun to read - very nice format
* Contains checklists
* Author is very knowledgable on the subject and an accomplished hiker/backpacker
* Good value for money

Cons:
* Not enough information about desert hiking/backpacking
* Very heavy - not something you'd want to bring in your pack unless you had to. On the flip side, it makes it more durable than your average book.
* Not all that good as a reference - best read from beginning to end.

All in all, I would rate it a 4 since it's a quite well written and comprehensive book. It covers what most people would expect to find in this type of book. It falls short of a rating of 5 mainly for the reasons mentioned in CON above.

(This review is of the February 2003 edition)

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome..., January 16, 2000

By	JoAnn (University of Nevada, Reno) - See all my reviews

I bought this book on a whim for my first ever backpacking expedition, and I loved it the second I cracked the front cover. It covers everything and anything a beginning hiker/backpacker could ever need. (It made my excursion with my husband-to-be on Valentine's Day weekend a blast!) While I still think cotton is just as invaluable as all the high-tech materials out there, she definitely makes her "expert" opinion a time and money saver. I give her little section on women and kids an A++ for motivation. Oh, and did I mention it was awesome.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars informative, well organized and fun to read, August 27, 1999

By A Customer

I've been backpacking for about ten years and continue to find this book a useful tool. The writing, pictures and illustrations somehow manage to get me enthused about backpacking every time I pick up the book.

Great intro book (what equipment you need to get started, how to read a compass, etc...), but also a lot of practical tips on what to look for when buying gear (including how to save $$$, something that backpackers of all skill levels can appreciate!).

The author's "minimum impact" tips are useful reminders for all backpackers and obviously come from a person with great respect for the outdoors. This alone should make this book required reading for new folks on the trail.